Instructions

ZOOM IN by clicking on the page. A slider will appear, allowing you to adjust your zoom level. Return to the original size by clicking on the page again.

MOVE the page around when zoomed in by dragging it.

ADJUST the zoom using the slider on the top right.

ZOOM OUT by clicking on the zoomed-in page.

SEARCH by entering text in the search field and click on "In This Issue" or "All Issues" to search the current issue or the archive of back issues
respectively.
.

PRINT by clicking on thumbnails to select pages, and then press the
print button.

SHARE this publication and page.

ROTATE PAGE allows you to turn pages 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.Click on the page to return to the original orientation. To zoom in on a rotated page, return the page to its original orientation, zoom in, and
then rotate it again.

CONTENTS displays a table of sections with thumbnails and descriptions.

ALL PAGES displays thumbnails of every page in the issue. Click on
a page to jump.

www.papakuracourier.co.nz Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Keentoride--at91
Racing ahead: Manukau City Veterans Cycle Club member Bruce Christopher is the oldest sponsored cyclist in New Zealand.
Photos: HINERANGI VAIMOSO
By HINERANGI VAIMOSO
Times gone by: Bruce Christopher
chats to Manukau Veterans Cycle Club
president Kelvin McAnulty about his
vintage cycling shoes.
HE MIGHT be 91 but the oldest
sponsored cyclist in New Zealand
still clearly remembers the day he
first rode a bike.
Bruce Christopher was about
eight when he saw a man park his
bicycle outside a general store near
his home in Rotorua. He jumped on
and gave it a spin.
I was hooked from then on, he
says.
He still rides a steady 40km every
week in rural Papakura as the
oldest member of the Manukau City
Veteran s Cycle Club.
I must admit I don t get as
motivated as I used to, he says
with a laugh.
I liked the days when I had
people in my age range to race
against. I do it for the camaraderie
these days.
Mr Christopher was gifted an
Avanti bike worth $4000 by Avanti
and Cycle City in Manukau for his
90th birthday, making him the
oldest sponsored cyclist in New Zea-
land.
He bought his first bike when he
was 14 for £2.10. It was a model
made by the Canadian National
Cycle Company and he earned it by
sweeping offices in central Auck-
land after school.
Doctors told me I d eventually
get arthritis. That was 40 years ago
and it hasn t happened yet, he
says.
There are a few plates and
screws here and there and I m on all
sorts of funny heart pills but I m
still getting by.
Mr Christopher recommends cyc-
ling as a body and soul preserving
sport with plenty of fresh air and
healthy competition from the
younger ones within the club.
I love to see that girls have taken
up the sport to such an extent these
days, he says.
That s especially pleasing, he
says, because his wife, a keen ath-
lete, was often frowned upon for
being a woman cyclist.
A number of people back then
would say girls shouldn t be riding
bikes in that position, Mr Christo-
pher says.
That attitude has really changed
over the years and I m pleased.
The veteran cyclists get together
every Sunday around 8am, setting
off from Ardmore Hall on the corner
of Papakura-Clevedon Rd and
Burnside Rd.
Full membership is available to
anyone over the age of 30 but people
are welcome to become associate
members.
Riders take on distances between
25km and 80km.
The club was formed in 1992 to
meet the needs of veteran cyclists in
south Auckland.
While the turnout varies each
week it s not unusual for the club to
host 120 riders on a Sunday from all
across Auckland.
Mr Christopher lives in Mt Ros-
kill and is more than happy to make
the journey to Papakura every week
with his trusty bike dismantled in
the back seat of his car.
Club president Kelvin McAnulty
says the club s youngest member is
in his early 30s and many of the
members are in their 40s.
They usually join when the kids
are grown up and off doing their
own thing so they re then able to get
back out riding again, he says.
Go to cycleclub.co.nz for more
details on how you can join the
Manukau City Veterans Cycle Club.